Mohali, Aug. 2 -- A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Friday convicted five retired Punjab Police officials, including a former senior superintendent of police (SSP) and a deputy superintendent of police (DSP), in a 32-year-old fake encounter case involving the killing of seven youths of Rani Willa village in Tarn Taran district in 1993. The court found them guilty of criminal conspiracy, murder, destruction of evidence and forgery under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The quantum of the sentence will be pronounced on August 4. Those convicted include former SSP Bhupinderjit Singh (61), former DSP Davinder Singh (58), former inspector Suba Singh (83), assistant sub-inspectors (ASIs) Gulabarg Singh (72) and Raghbir Singh (63). Following the verdict, all five were taken into custody. The verdict was pronounced by special CBI judge Baljinder Singh Sara in the case, which involved the abduction, illegal detention, custodial torture and staged killings of seven youths - including three special police officers (SPOs) - from Rani Willa village in Tarn Taran district in 1993. According to the CBI investigation, the chain of events began on June 27, 1993, when a police team led by Sarhali station house officer inspector Gurdev Singh (who died during the course of trial) abducted SPO Shinder Singh and others from the residence of contractor Joginder Singh. They were taken to Sarhali police station where they were tortured and falsely implicated in a robbery case. Subsequently, on July 2, 1993, police lodged a fake FIR claiming that Shinder and the others had absconded with government-issued weapons. Ten days later on July 12, a police party led by then DSP Bhupinderjit Singh (who retired as SSP) and inspector Gurdev Singh staged a fake encounter. The police claimed that the victims were killed in crossfire while attempting to recover stolen arms from "terrorists". The bodies were cremated as "unclaimed", despite being identified by ASIs Gulabarg Singh and Davinder Singh (who retired as a DSP). Postmortem revealed signs of severe torture prior to death, and forensic analysis of the seized arms pointed to serious discrepancies, according to the probe. On July 28, 1993, three more abducted individuals - Sukhdev Singh, Sarabjit Singh, and Harvinder Singh - were reportedly killed in a second staged encounter by the Verowal police. According to investigators, fake recoveries and fabricated documents were used to justify these killings as anti-terror operations. The court said both the encounters were conducted under the supervision of then DSP Bhupinderjit Singh and other convicts were part of the police team. The case was handed over to the CBI following a Supreme Court directive on December 12, 1996, in connection with the mass cremation of unidentified bodies in Punjab. A preliminary inquiry began in 1997 and a formal case was registered in 1999 based on the testimony of Narinder Kaur, wife of Shinder Singh. Counsel of the victims Sarabjit Singh Verka said the CBI had listed 67 witnesses, but delays in the trial between 2010 and 2021 led to the deaths of 36 of them. Only 28 testified before the court. "Justice has been delayed, but not denied. The families waited 32 years for this day," Verka said. Family members of the victims present in court during the verdict were visibly emotional. Many welcomed the judgment with tears and expressed relief that justice had finally been served....